The Shadow-gloom and Weight of the Sacred

I can't tell you which band I like more, Led Zeppelin or U2. In their respective ways, they are both the prototypical, self-sanctimonious rock band, but they approach it from different perspectives. Well, I've been thinking abou this for a long while: what are my top 5 favorite U2 albums. It's not an easy pick for me. I can rattle off my top 5 Zeppelin albums without any thought (I may do that next friday), but it's harder to rank U2 albums. It's hard to say to one album "I like you better than this other album." Here's my best effort.

5. All That You Can't Leave Behind (2001)--After a decade of experimental rock music (but never so boring that you'd categorize it as prog rock) and over-the-top stadium tours, both of which ultimately isolated their fans, U2 released this album. Rolling Stone gave it five stars and called it their third masterpiece (The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby were the first). Highlights for me include "Kite" and "In a Little While." There are a lot of great melodies on this album--you can sing along with every single song. Yes, "Beautiful Day" has been overplayed in this decade the same way "One" was in the previous decade, but even at that, it's a great song.

4. Achtung Baby (1991)--U2 recorded this album in Berlin; it was a vast departure from their previous music. It was, nonetheless, classic. The Edge uses a lot of diverse effects and there is, at times, a tendency towards the electronic, but without ever actually giving in to the tendency. My favorite songs include "Zoo Station" and "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)."

3. Zooropa (1993)--Oringally intended as an EP to supplement Achtung Baby and their ongoing ZooTV tour, U2 ended up creating their most avant garde album. There are almost no guitar-driven songs on this album; it's best experienced as a whole, much like Darkside of the Moon or Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown. But, it's not a concept album. My favorite songs are "The First Time" and "The Wanderer" (vocals by Johnny Cash). I also really like "Lemon" and "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car."

2. Pop (1997)--This is the album--and the PopMart tour--is the straw that broke the camel's back for a lot of U2 fans. Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and ZooTV Tour challenged fan sensibilities and understandings of the band by offering more eclectic music and assuming rock-cliché personas, but on Pop and PopMart U2 turned on their fans. With ZooTV they mocked themselves, but on PopMart they mocked their fans and the culture that made their band. A polemic against consumerism and materialism, Pop is the strongest lyrical offering U2 has created. It's an acquired taste, I must admit. I hated it when it was originally released. The PopMart stage was notorious for it's expanse LCD screen, the lemon with giant martini toothpick, and golden arch provided the perfect platform for the message of Pop, but fans felt it was too over-the-top, which is interesting because, compared with the currently running U2360 tour, PopMart is pretty tame. But, fans have embraced U2360, which leads me to believe that it wasn't the extravagant nature of the stage so much as the message that people found offensive. Favorite songs: "The Playboy Mansion" and "Please".

1. No Line on the Horizon (2009)--For a while now, Pop was my favorite U2 album (whence the big comment), but this album has really moved me since it's release. Very much an album of a new millinum; it's themes not possible in decades past. Often complex, it can be quite subtle while still highlighting Bono's big voice and The Edge's expansive guitar. Perhaps after a decade of listening to it, I can offer a better, more specific analysis. But, then again, as Frank Zappa said, write about music is like dancing about politics. My favorite songs: "Fez-Being Born" and "White as Snow."